How is the economic slowdown hurting Regent?

[ERParadise]

I am interested to know if any travel agents or frequent Regent travelers have any evidence to note whether the economic slowdown is starting to hit even the high end cruise lines like Regent.

 

I seem to e getting a higher frequency of emails from Regent offering specials for this fall when in past years it seems the fall would already be booked (in mid July).

 

If there is a slight reduction in bookings I would expect to start to see more discounts and promos being thrown out. I don't see a ton of this, but I'm interested to know how the travel biz sees it.

[canadagal]

I have nothing to do with the travel business so I can't answer your question but here is a link to the same question posted back in May. A couple of TA's answered on this thread.

Pat

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=768544

[Dolebludger]

Well, there has been significant decline in the economy since May. And cruises taken last May were, for the most part, paid for in Late winter/early spring, when the economy was better. So a request for updated information on this matter is quite appropriate. Actually, I am wondering of others feel "priced out of the market", or am I the only one?:(

[linda_22003]

I've seen posts on the Carnival and RCI boards indicating that people do feel priced out of the market. It's going to happen to the mass market lines before it happens to the luxury lines, IMHO, because in many cases we're talking about less disposable income in general. We got the new "big book" from Regent in the mail yesterday, and there are one or two Med cruises for October 2009 marked "Sold Out".

[TedC]

When I saw the "sold out" label this early I immediately thought charter or group cruise.

 

 

I could be wrong, of course.

[Paint Horse]

All I can say is we are traveling more rather than less this year and in 2009. We are also spending more on these trips, on purpose that is.

[linda_22003]

When I saw the "sold out" label this early I immediately thought charter or group cruise.

 

 

I could be wrong, of course.

 

For whatever reason, sold out is sold out.

[Dolebludger]

I'm not surprised that the down-turn has hit the lower end lines first. When I say that I'm priced out of the market, I don't mean that I am unable to book a Regent cruise and pay for it. I do mean that I have a problem with economic justification of paying current fares (doubled from just a few years back) in light of declining stock values, poor yields on investments, and inflation.

 

I'm curious as to how bookings made during the last month or so have compared with those of the same time a year ago.

[Travelcat2]

We booked our October 2008 Med. cruise in August 2007. The "base" cost of our Penthouse B suite (selected to have included Business Class air), was $16,040 for two of us. In the brochure received this week, the same cruise -- same date -- has a base price of $19,100 (same Bus. air included). Someone can do the math on that one:-) This is the only cruise I can really compare apples to apples.

 

It isn't only cruising that is being priced out of the range of many people. International Business Class airfare for two usually begins at $10,000. First Class about $20,000. Regent booked us in the Ritz Carlton in Istanbul -- I looked it up on the internet yesterday -- lowest cost room 300 Euro's per night.

 

There are certainly less expensive cruise lines. . . hotels. . . and airfares. I just have not been able to find a cruise line that compares with the luxury lines. Our plan, at the moment, is to travel less but in the same style. Regent has a very high rate of booking for 2009 -- time will tell if people cancel and/or Regent decides to run some specials. JMO:)

[Travelcat2]

The "new" Regent brochure is incorrect -- so, the information on the Med. cruise I gave (above) is also wrong. The base price for the cruise (listed on RSSC.com) is $17,580 for 2 -- not that large of an increase over what we paid almost a year ago:rolleyes:

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Can the cruiseline (or airlines) raise the fuel surcharge on cabins booked and paid a year in advance? I.e., can Regent hit Travelcat2 with a fuel bill just before her October cruise?

[Travelcat2]

Thankfully, once a cruise is paid in full, they cannot add additional fuel charges. This is one reason this cruise was paid in full so long ago (note: this was originally scheduled for May, 2008 -- Regent cancelled the cruise -- we took an Alaska cruise in the meantime and are now, finally, getting to the Mediterrean!)

[canadagal]

I am noticing more last minute 50% off sales then before with onboard credit and if you can book 3-2 months in to the cruise date then there are some really good bargains out there. You just have to work at finding them. These are not always widely published so it pays to be signed up at several online cruise websites for their email alerts. Then take the sale alert to your own TA and see if they can give you the same deal. This is what I just did recently for our SS cruise that I just booked and saved considerably. The only catch is to make sure first that you can secure air for the cruise in question as sometimes air is already sold out by then or at such a ridiculous high rate that any savings gained by booking the cruise are eaten up. I also check directly with the cruiseline to see what cabin numbers are still available and if their location is to my liking before I even bother my TA with trying to match a deal found elsewhere. Why start the booking process to find out later that the only cabins left are those you would never want. I'm also finding that booking way out in advance just doesn't get you the deal anymore like in years past.

Pat

[Dolebludger]

Pat:

 

You are correct, as obtaining air at a half-way reasonable price for specific cruise dates can be impossible sometimes. When we were checking out air for a simple trip from Oklahoma to Colorado, we found 6X difference in air fare, depending on exactly what dates we departed and returned! Time of day seemed to be a factor too, with those 7:00 AM departures being cheapest. For the trip to Colorado, we could pick and chose dates and times -- but we can't do that for a cruise. As air is certainly part of the total cruise price, the increasing "regular" air fares is but another factor pricing some of us out of the frequent cruiser market.

[FionaCruz]

I am interested to know if any travel agents or frequent Regent travelers have any evidence to note whether the economic slowdown is starting to hit even the high end cruise lines like Regent.

 

I seem to e getting a higher frequency of emails from Regent offering specials for this fall when in past years it seems the fall would already be booked (in mid July).

 

If there is a slight reduction in bookings I would expect to start to see more discounts and promos being thrown out. I don't see a ton of this, but I'm interested to know how the travel biz sees it.

 

From my conversations recently on Mariner with staff I don't think it is affecting this segment of the market since the people sailing on Regent are usually financially sound and still have money to spend. Their sailings are still selling out. They are offering longer cruises next year due to past passenger demand so I think they're trying to keep their customers happy and coming back.